Portable window-platform.



No. 669,006. Patanted Feb. 26, 19m.v H. m. CRAWFORD.

PORTABLE WINDOW PLATFORM.

(Application filed Mar. 23, 1900.)

(No Model.)

15 window, fastened in position securely and llnirt n Starts i Price.

TATENT HARRY M. ORA'WFORD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSET S, ASSIGNOR OF TWO- THIRDS TO MARY F. BAILEY, OF SAME PLACE, AND WARREN S. HILL,

OF HYDE PARK, MASSACHUSETTS.

PORTABLE WINDOW-PLATFORM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,006, dated February 26, 1901.

Application filed March 23, 1900. serial No. 9,869. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY M. CRAWFORD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Sufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable \Vindow-Platforms, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in platforms for safely supporting persons outside the windows of a building to permit them to clean or repair the same; and-it consists in features of construction which enable the device to be readily moved from window to without defacing the building, and stored away in a comparatively small space when not in use. These objects are attained by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device shown in position for use. Fig. 2 is a top plan thereof, parts being broken away. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the securing fixture and key on the line 3 3 of Figs. 4: and 5. Fig. at is a rear elevation of the fixture. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the key, and Fig. 6 is a modification of astay to support the railing.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

The invention will be described in connection with a window-at which it is to be used, 10 designating the wall of the building and 11 and 12, respectively, the sill and frame of a window therein.

l3 13 are bars, preferably two in number, of any desired material and of cross-sectional dimensions to secure proper strength and at the same time to be as light as possible. They are of sufficient length to extend outwardly from the window far enough to receive a floor or platform proper, 14, large enough to properly support a person, and also inwardly for a considerable distance. The floor 14 consists of transverse boards suitably secured to the bars, these boards being of such length as to give the width of platform necessary for the particular size of windows at which the device is to be employed.

Secured to the bars 13, at or near the inner 5o edge of the floor, are supporting-standards 15. These are preferably in the form of threaded rods engaged by stationary nuts 15, fastened to the bars. The lower ends of the standards rest upon the window-sill to support the platform and may be screwed up or down to so adjust the position of the bars that they will clear different heights of window-frame above the sill, and thus prevent marring it. Movable nuts 15" upon the standards when screwed against the bars lock them in position. The lower ends of the standards are preferably provided with protecting-shoes 16, of rubber or other suitable material, to avoid their scratching the frame in passing the platform through the window or defacing the sill upon which they rest.

The bars extend through the window into the building a distance beyond the standards preferably two or more times that from the standards to their opposite ends. At or near their inner extremities is provided a catch or connecting device 17, which may be conveniently made in the form of a hook. Within the window, bestscrewedorotherwisesecured 7 to the wall of the room upon or near the baseboard, are fixtures 18, these preferably consisting of plates provided at their centers with horizontal slots 19. Connecting the fixtures l8 and the books 17 are stays or braces 20, most conveniently made flexible, being of chain or rope, preferably the former- They carry at their lower end a key 21 to interlock with the fixture, consisting of a short spindle 22, secured to the chain at one end and having near the other end a pair of oppositelyextending projections or studs 23, formed by a pin fixed in a hole in the spindle. The slot 19 in the fixture is of sufficient length to receive the projections 23 and has at its center a circular enlargement for the spindle to enter. The slot is in the face of a hollow boss 24 upon the outer surface of the fixture, enabling the key to enter it and be turned therein without the necessity of cutting a recess in the wall under the fixture. On the under side of the upper face of the boss are grooves 25 at right angles to the slot, serving to receive the projections of the key and lock it in place. To maintain the projections within the grooves, concavo-convex spring-collars 26 are provided about the spindles, the convex sides abutting against a shoulder thereon,and the edge resting upon the outer face of the fixture when the key is interlocked therewith, pressing the projections into the grooves and preventing their separating through any jar or movement of the stay. The collars 26 are cut out at intervals about the outer periphery to impart the necessary elasticity. The key being locked in the fixture any link of the chain may be passed over the hook 17, enabling the stay to be made of any length necessary to hold the platform in a horizontal position. As the weight of a person upon the platform is applied at but a short distance from the standards as compared with the distance of the point of attachment of the stay on the other side, the leverage and resultant stress upon the stay is very small and the device may be used with perfect security against breakage of the stay or its fastenings.

To retain the platform against outward movement through the window while in use, the bars 13 are provided with adjustable stops, consisting of a block 27 below the bar and a strap 27, surrounding the other sides, the latter having on one side a set-screw 28, and when the bars are made of wood there may be provided between the screw and the bar a protecting-plate 29, turned up at its outer ends against the edge of the strap to keep it in place. WVhen the platform is in position, these stops may be moved to such a position on the bars that they contact with the edge of the window-frame and are then clamped in place by the set-screws and prevent the outward displacement of the standards upon the sill.

To protect the person using the platform from falling, the outside of the fioor 14 has a railing 30. This may be of light network upon a frame of iron rods and is preferably in three sections, so constructed that it may be folded over upon the floor to make the device as compact as possible for handling and storage. The rear section 31 of the railing is hinged at its lower side to the platform by projections 32 at the corners engaging holes in the upper portion of lugs 33, fastened near the ends of the bars 13. The side sections 34 34 of the railing are hinged at their outer or rear ends to the sides of the rear section, preferably by their horizontal rods and cross-bars having a turn about the vertical rods of the latter, as shown at 35. To secure the railing in its upright position, a lug 36 is fastened to the outside of each platform-bar at the inner edge of the side sections, through a hole in which extends a bolt 37, having at its inner end an elongated rectangular head and at its outer a thumb-nut. At the lower inner corner of each section 34 of the railing is fastened a plate 38, having a slot, through which the head of the bolt may be inserted and when turned at right angles and the nut tightened will clamp the railing firmly in its raised position. To prevent the upper and inner corners of the sections 34 from yielding outwardly, a stay in the form of a chain 39 is preferably secured near one side of the top bar of the side sections 34 and having a snaphook or other catch 39, adapted to engage the end section at a similar point, the chains being of such length that the tops of the side sections will be held in their proper positions, or, as in the modification illustrated in Fig. 6, an angular stay 40 may be hinged to the inner edge of each section 34, as they are to the section 31, so that when the railing is used they may be turned at right angles to the sides and engaged at their inner lower corner by a suitable catch 4E1, secured to the floor lat.

From the above description the operation of placing my invention in position for use, fastening and adjusting, and also of removing it and folding the railing for carrying or storing away will be clearly understood Without further explanation, as will also its security, portability, and simplicity.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a portable Window-platform, the combination with the platform of the stay or brace to assist in retaining it in place, a fixture provided with a slotted opening mounted upon the building, and a key upon the stayprovided at or near its end with a projection adapted to enter the slot of the fixture and be turned to interlock therewith, substantially as described.

2. In a portable window-platform, the combination with the platform of a stay or brace to assist in retaining it in place, a fixtu re provided with a slotted opening mounted upon the building, a key upon the stay provided at or near its end with a projection adapted to enter the slot of the fixture and be turned to interlock therewith, and a groove Within the fixture to engage the projection of the key, substantially as described.

3. In a portable window-platform, the combination with the platform of a stay or brace to assist in retaining it in place, a fixture provided with a slotted opening mounted upon the building, a key upon the stay provided at or near its end with a projection adapted to enter the slot of the fixture and be turned to interlock therewith, a groove within the fixture to engage the projection of the key, and a spring coacting with the key to assist in retaining the projection in the groove, substantially as described.

HARRY M. ORAVVFORD.

Witnesses:

. DAVID L. SPAULDING,

MILTON O. HARDY. 

